Be On The Lookout: Bodyguard

Was the couple really running after her?

Why?

Was she just overreacting?

Or had Jonathan been right about the couple all along?

Kate reached the metal door that led back into the mall and started to second-guess herself. It was a coincidence. That was all. It was perfectly normal for a couple to eat and then go shopping. It was New York City, after all. She nodded to herself, trying to ignore the fear that had cropped up. She took a step back and looked toward the mouth of the alley.

Seconds later the woman and her green jacket came into view. Kate’s blood ran cold but her feet stayed warm. She grabbed the door handle, ready to fling it open and make a mad dash inside, when it swung wide so fast that she gave a little scream.

“Whoa, it’s me,” said Jonathan. He grabbed her shoulders, steadying her. Relief didn’t just pool within her, it flooded. “What’s wrong?”

Kate turned back to the mouth of the alley. The woman and her counterpart were nowhere to be seen.

“She was just there,” Kate whispered.

“Who?” Jonathan’s grip tightened. He moved her around behind him, looking where she had.

Maybe Kate had imagined it.

“Who?” he asked again. “Kathryn?”

“Call me Kate,” she whispered. She shook her head and looked up at him. Embarrassment at acting like such a carefree child washed over her. While trying to avoid the bodyguard and what she believed to be a service she didn’t need, she’d just managed to convince herself that she was in some kind of danger. She was creating fictional scenarios and problems for herself, most likely seeing more in the couple’s actions than was there. Still, the fear wasn’t fully leaving, either. Fear often led to loss of control.

And Kate didn’t like losing what little control she had.

She cleared her throat before continuing with a much stronger voice. “I never liked being called Kathryn.”

“Okay, Kate,” he started, brows pulling together. “Who did you see?”

“Never mind,” she said. She straightened her back and took a deep breath. There was no way she was going to let the bodyguard’s paranoia and her fear make her lose her focus. “Let’s head back,” she said, no longer wanting to explore.

Kate might be able to write off how the woman in the green coat had seemingly been looking for her as a coincidence, but she wasn’t about to take off from the bodyguard’s side again.

She was in denial, but not that much.

* * *

THE WALK BACK to the hotel was quiet. More than anything Jonathan wanted to reprimand his charge for running off, but after seeing her expression in the alley, he’d refrained. Whatever—whoever—she’d seen had spooked her. While seeing Jonathan had done the opposite.

She’d let out a deep sigh that had seemingly passed through her entire body at the sight of him. Seeing such poignant relief because of his proximity had affected him almost as much as the look of fear she’d harbored seconds before. The absurd amount of annoyance he’d felt for Kathryn—Kate—had taken a backseat to a resounding protectiveness that went beyond his usual job duties.

He suddenly not only needed to keep her safe, he wanted to do it, and to the best of his abilities.

The silence stretched past the sidewalk and up to their rooms, and when it finally broke, it wasn’t by much.

“I’m a little tired from traveling,” Kate muttered. “I’ll let you know if I want to leave.” There was an undercurrent to her words, but Jonathan couldn’t place the emotion creating it. Was it guilt at ditching him earlier? Or residual fear from whatever had happened when he hadn’t been right on her heels?

“Thank you,” was all he could say.

She nodded and opened her door. He waited until it was closed and the top latch was thrown in place. It made him wonder if she’d done it by habit, or if Kate was more worried than she was letting on.

Chapter Six (#ulink_0ad909b4-219e-5985-81e3-cfd7330b30cd)

Kate closed the top latch over the door and took a step back to look at it. She heard Jonathan’s door close.

You aren’t in any danger, she thought. Don’t let his overprotectiveness worry you.

But even as she gave herself the advice, she couldn’t help but feel an influx of nerves tighten her stomach.

“This is why I didn’t want a bodyguard,” she muttered, rubbing her stomach. “Now I think I have problems I don’t really have.”

Trying to forget about the man next door wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped.

Talking about his past, including Orion’s origin, had softened her otherwise harsh opinion of the man. He wasn’t some faceless hunk of meat sent to stalk her in hopes of keeping a potentially imaginary predator at bay. He was a man who had persevered through tragedy and had made a life of preventing it from repeating again.

And wasn’t that exactly what she was doing, too?

She tried to banish thoughts of the brooding dark-haired man and fell onto the bed. The jaunt right after eating a full meal plus traveling combined to make her eyelids unbelievably heavy as soon as she hit the pillow.

The feeling of exhaustion and the desire to give in to the comfort of the bed surprised her. Taking naps wasn’t something she was used to doing. In the last few years, if there was time to sleep, then that meant there was time to work. She’d rarely picked a nap over lab time. It was a choice that had turned into a habit.

A yawn tore itself from her lips and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she was asleep.

This trip was already turning out much differently than she had originally planned.

* * *

THE ROOM WAS DARK.

Barely any light filtered in from behind the curtains. It was so dim Kate placed them as streetlights. Which meant her nap had stretched longer than she’d meant it to.

She rolled onto her back and yawned. Even though she’d been sleeping, she felt exhaustion still weighing her down. If she closed her eyes again, she was sure she’d sleep until morning.

So what had woken her up?

She tilted her head, listening.

A car horn blared outside, promptly followed by two more.

Ah, the sweet sounds of New York City, she thought.

She contemplated her next move, listening to a symphony of agitated drivers vent via their respective vehicles when another sound caught her ear.

Confused, she turned her head, peering into the dark for the culprit. It stopped.

Kate’s heartbeat began to pick up. She waited. There it was again.